Joliet man fatally shot inside restaurant

Suspect arrested; charges pending

August 04, 2013|By Liam Ford, Chicago Tribune reporter

A man was shot to death Saturday as he sat with his wife and two children in a crowded restaurant in Joliet, authorities said.

Gerardo Franchini, 29, of Joliet, was in a booth with his family at Louis' Family Restaurant, 1001 W. Jefferson St., about 9:30 a.m. when a man entered the restaurant, went up to Franchini and shot him several times "at point-blank range," Joliet police said in a news release. No one else was wounded, police said.

Franchini was pronounced dead about three hours later at Presence St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, according to the Will County coroner's office.

Investigators tracked the shooting suspect to a home in the 2300 block of Carnation Drive in Crest Hill and persuaded the 31-year-old Joliet man to surrender about 4 p.m., Joliet police investigations Cmdr. Brian Benton said in an email.

Murder charges are pending against the suspect, Benton said. The Tribune is not naming him because he has not been formally charged.